Flight Safety Information
December 2, 2013 - No. 246
In This Issue
33 Dead in Mozambican Plane Crash in Namibia
Alaska town mobilizes after plane crash
Insurance company tries to recoup $1 million from Macon in jet crash
Horrified US Airways passengers 'advised to get TB shots' after infected man is
taken off their flight
Air safety neglected 'to cope with rush'
Africa's Aviation Safety: LAM crash in Mozambique raises doubts
Think ARGUS PROS
Engineer spent decades dedicated to improving aviation safety
Utah's state plane is not a luxury jet
Upgrading aircraft components grows Global Aviation Technologies' business
Oakland woman and service dog kicked off Southwest Airlines
Watch for: AVIATION MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING EXCHANGE
33 Dead in Mozambican Plane Crash in Namibia
(AP) A Mozambique Airlines plane carrying 33 people crashed in a remote border area in
Namibia, killing all on board, officials said Saturday.
The plane crashed in a Namibian national park near the border with Angola and there
were no survivors, Namibian police and Mozambican authorities said. An investigation of
the cause was underway, and teams of experts headed to the scene.
The Brazilian-made Embraer 190 aircraft was carrying 27 passengers, including 10
Mozambicans, nine Angolans, five Portuguese, and one citizen each from France, Brazil
and China, said the airline. Six crew members, including two pilots, three flight
attendants and a maintenance technician, were on board.
Mozambique's transport minister, Gabriel Muthisse, confirmed the deaths of the 33
people on the plane.
Flight TM470 from Maputo, the Mozambican capital, did not land as scheduled in Luanda,
the Angolan capital, on Friday afternoon, and the airline initially said the plane might
have landed in Rundu, in northern Namibia. It said it coordinated with aviation authorities
in Namibia, Botswana and Angola to locate the missing plane, and that it was setting up
support centers for families of the victims at the airports in Maputo and Luanda.
A Namibian police helicopter joined officers on the ground in the search, the Namibia
Press Agency reported. The area is vast and there are no roads, making it difficult to
locate the plane, said police official Willy Bampton, according to the agency.
The search was conducted in the Bwabwata National Park in northeastern Namibia.
Several thousand people as well as elephants, buffalo and other wildlife live in the park,
which covers 6,100 square kilometers (2,360 square miles).
In a statement, Embraer said the plane that crashed was delivered to Mozambique
Airlines in November 2012 and said it would assist investigators trying to determine the
cause of the crash.
"To that end, a team of Embraer technicians is preparing to go to the scene of the
accident," the company said.
Mozambique Airlines said the aircraft had General Electric engines, and had flown 2905
hours since being acquired a year ago.
Airlines from Mozambique are among carriers banned in the European Union because of
safety concerns.
Tony Tyler, director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association, said
earlier this week that none of the 25 African members of the association, which include
Mozambique Airlines, had an accident in 2012.
"But the overall safety record for Africa remains a problem that we must fix," Tyler said
at a meeting of the African Airlines Association in Kenya. He said African aviation
comprises about 3 percent of global airline traffic, and last year it accounted for nearly
half of the fatalities on Western-built jets.
Mozambique Airlines also uses U.S.-made Boeing and Canadian-made Bombardier
aircraft.
CEO Marlene Mendes Manave said in a statement on the airline's website, posted prior to
the crash, that the airline grew 8 percent in the first half of this year, compared to the
same period in 2012.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mozambican-passenger-jet-missing-
21053391
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Alaska town mobilizes after plane crash
Residents hop into trucks and snowmobiles to reach the wreckage, guided in the fog by a
survivor who suffered an agonizing loss.
A Cessna 208 crashed near St. Mary's, Alaska, with 10 people aboard. Four were
killed, including an infant. The baby's mother went for help.
About this time of year there are precious few hours of daylight in the small town of St.
Mary's in faraway western Alaska, and so it was already dark and frigid by the time
paramedics arrived at the wreckage of a Cessna 208 airplane outside town.
What they found Friday night was tragic: The plane carrying 10 people had crashed on a
snowy slope, killing the pilot and three passengers - one of them an infant.
But rescuers say there could have been more casualties if it weren't for the courage of
one survivor - the infant's mother - who climbed out of the wreckage and trudged
through the dark and icy fog to find rescuers, who had set out from town into the
wilderness to look for the crash.
Residents took to trucks and snowmobiles, forming their own search-and-rescue effort,
but couldn't locate the downed plane - or the rest of the survivors - until 25-year-old
Melanie Coffee struggled toward town and pointed the way. By the time the two
paramedics arrived by plane, about 50 people from the town were already on the scene,
tending to the survivors and helping carry them to safety.
"They're the true heroes in this," one of the paramedics, Clifton Dalton of LifeMed Alaska,
said of the residents in a phone interview. "They had people there to carry all those
patients. Had the crash been farther away from the village, or had the village not been
there, I think the outcome would have been very different."
Accounts of Friday's backcountry rescue continued to trickle out over the weekend as
officials and rural Alaska residents were trying to take stock of what happened.
"Everybody is still in shock," said Kate Thompson, a resident of nearby Mountain Village,
where some of the plane's passengers reportedly lived. "It's very hard."
The Hageland Aviation flight had been making the 100-mile hop from Bethel, Alaska, to
St. Mary's, population 531, and crashed about four miles outside St. Mary's airport at
6:34 p.m Friday, the company said in a statement.
Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said the wreckage was found about
8:30 p.m., and that bad weather prevented National Transportation Safety Board
investigators from reaching the crash site Saturday.
"Hageland is working to gather information to answer questions and do what we can to
ease the suffering of those involved in the accident," said Hageland Aviation President
Jim Hickerson. "As a family-owned business, this is an unspeakable tragedy for us."
One village police officer, Fred Lamont Jr., told the Anchorage Daily News that Coffee at
first tried to make a phone call for help while she gave CPR to her infant son, Wyatt, who
died.
Coffee, who was the only survivor without leg injuries, set out for the town and soon
linked up with a rescue party.
"It's unbelievable," Lamont told the Daily News of Coffee's effort after losing her son.
The two LifeMed Alaska paramedics said the town's residents bushwhacked through the
tundra and brought their own stretchers to the crash site, which was inaccessible to
snowmobiles.
Six to eight people at a time helped carry the survivors to safety, with replacements
taking turns as volunteers tired in the 12-degree cold.
"It was heavy, it was slippery, a lot of people were running out of breath," said
paramedic Dalton, noting that it took about half an hour to get from town to the crash
site.
The six survivors were ultimately flown more than 400 miles to Anchorage, where most
remained hospitalized in fair condition Sunday.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-alaska-plane-crash-
20131202,0,6186816.story#ixzz2mJTzFAlY
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Insurance company tries to recoup $1 million from Macon in jet crash
A corporate jet hydroplaned into a wooded area across Ocmulgee East
Industrial Boulevard while trying to land at the Macon Downtown Airport in
September 2012. An insurance company contends that the wreck is the city of
Macon's fault and cost it $1 million.
An insurance company contends that a bad runway built by the city of Macon caused a
corporate jet to crash after it skidded at Macon Downtown Airport, then rolled across
Ocmulgee East Industrial Boulevard.
Old Republican Insurance Co. sued the city this week, hoping to recoup the $1 million it
paid to the owners of the 1986 Beech 400 jet. The aircraft reportedly hydroplaned when
it was landing on Sept. 18, 2012.
The lawsuit claims the city rebuilt the runway improperly, letting rainwater build up on
the runway because the sides didn't slope away enough.
The insurance company maintains that Macon narrowed Runway 10-28 in 2008, but it
didn't tell pilots about that work. Though the runway was actually narrowed to 100 feet,
it was advertised as 150 feet.
The lawsuit also said the runway is actually 4,506 feet long, but was listed as 4,696 feet,
nearly 200 feet longer.
The Federal Aviation Administration lists the runway as 4,694 feet long and 150 feet wide
in its Airport/Facility Directory and in other locations.
The city has not been served with a copy of the lawsuit. Interim City Attorney Judd T.
Drake said the city would respond in due course to protect the city's interests.
The insurance company said the city failed to warn pilots about how dangerous the
runway got when it rained, and it also didn't have a big enough runway safety area,
which is designed for airplanes that overshoot the runway.
All of those problems "proximately caused the hydroplaning and crash" of the airplane,
the insurance company claimed in the suit.
The company is seeking all damages, including legal fees, from a jury. Attorneys Edward
C. Bresee Jr. and Arthur J. Park of Atlanta are pursuing the case.
The National Transportation Safety Board reported last year that it talked to the pilots,
who said they saw water in the runway. They touched down within 1,000 feet of the near
end and applied maximum reverse thrust, brakes and spoilers, but felt a pulsation in the
braking system.
"The airplane departed the end of the runway, traveled into the grass, went down an
embankment, across the road, and into the trees. They further added that the airplane
'hit hard' at the bottom of the embankment," the agency reported.
http://www.macon.com/2013/11/29/2804328/insurance-company-tries-to-
recoup.html#storylink=cpy
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Horrified US Airways passengers 'advised to get TB shots' after infected man is
taken off their flight on landing
Passengers aboard a US Airways flight from Texas to Arizona Saturday were shocked
when a firefighter boarded the plane and reportedly announced that everyone inside the
cabin had been exposed to tuberculosis.
The incident happened aboard US Airways Express Flight 2846 from Austin to Phoenix
operated by Mesa Air.
A passenger told ABC15 that she, her husband and 10-year-old daughter were just
minutes away from deplaning at Sky Harbor Airport when suddenly a group of
paramedics boarded the aircraft and removed a man who was sitting in front of them.
According to the woman, one of the first responders then made an announcement that all
74 people aboard the plane - including two pilots and two flight attendants - should get
tuberculosis shots after allegedly being exposed to the contagious, potentially deadly
illness.
US Airways spokesman Bill McGlahsen later said that the flight was carrying a traveler
with a medical condition, but would not confirm it was in fact TB.
Tuberculosis, once the leading cause of death in the U.S., is spread through the air from
one person to another, according to the CDC.
Symptoms of TB disease include a bad cough, chest pain, coughing up blood, fever and
chills, weight loss and weakness, among other signs. If not treated properly, TB can be
fatal.
According to the airline representative, the man was cleared to fly in Austin, but while
the plane was in the air, the Transportation Security Administration changed his status to
'no fly' after learning of his suspected medical problem.
When Flight 2846 landed at Sky Harbor Airport about two hours after take-off, the
aircraft stopped short of the terminal while officials contacted the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, AZCentral.com reported.
First responders then boarded the plane and led the ailing man outside, after which the
aircraft was allowed to continue to the gate where the rest of the passengers deplaned at
around 5.15pm local time.
Passenger Dean Davidson told AZCentral that while they waited for about 20 minutes in
an isolated area of the tarmac, a flight attendant asked a 'slender' man to put on a
medical mask before he was escorted off the plane by firefighters.
According to Davidson, one of the first responders then announced to the 70 passengers
aboard the 90-seat plane over the PA system that everyone on the flight had been
exposed to TB and advised them to seek medical attention and then get tested in three
months.
Jeanine Fowler, of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, told ABC15 that
there is no confirmed case of TB at this point, adding that the passengers on the flight
faced little risk of contagion.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2516691/US-Airways-passengers-advised-TB-
shots-infected-man-taken-flight-landing.html#ixzz2mJMCXW8I
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Air safety neglected 'to cope with rush'
KARACHI, Dec 1: Air safety was compromised on by the Pakistan International Airlines
(PIA) when it extended the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) of the cockpit crew after
seeking 'verbal' approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to operate a flight during
the Haj operation in October. None of the passengers appeared to be a pilgrim.
The cockpit crew was asked to do a 20-hours duty as against the normally extendable
duty of 13 hours, sources said.
They said that by violating the FDTL in a situation where no emergency was there, PIA
chose to put the lives of over 500 passengers of the PK 741 at stake. The passengers
were the Pakistani families returning home from Jeddah to celebrate Eidul Azha in their
country.
The airlines tried to justify the unnecessary risk-taking operation by shifting blame on
congestion at the Jeddah airport, Eid rush of returning Pakistanis, etc. Given another
reason, it said this had to be done to facilitate the Haj operations. Sources in the PIA
questioned the approval with regard to the FDTL given by the CAA arguing that such a
waiver was given in an emergency situation.
In the case of the PK 741, the Boeing 747 employed was safe and happened to be in a
friendly country; there was no emergency to summon extraordinary measures like
extending the duty hours, the sources argued.
Secondly, they said, it was not a Haj flight.
The Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association (Palpa) has expressed its concern over the
airlines' move of prolonging crews' duty hours unnecessarily, saying that no compromise
on air safety should be resorted to unless there was a real emergency.
The sources said that the PK 741 cockpit crew comprised Capt Raja Usman (Staff
No.45621), first officer Imran Khan (Staff No.61854) and flight engineer Nasir Ali (Staff
No.38295). It flew
from Islamabad at 1345 GMT and landed in Jeddah with 503 passengers onboard on Oct
9.
The cabin crew was changed at the airport but the cockpit crew was retained until the
aircraft changing its flight number to PK 742 landed in the federal capital at 0938 GMT
and the cockpit crew completed its 20-hour duty 30 minutes later at 1038 GMT).
Responding to Dawn's queries, a PIA spokesperson denied that the FDTL was violated. He
explained that "due to start of Eidul Azha holidays in Saudi Arabia there was great rush of
people returning home at the Jeddah airport". He said the flight, PK 742, was packed to
its capacity as it was the last day for intending pilgrims to reach there.
The immigration, customs, security and check-in activities were also badly affected
causing an unusual four-hour delay in the departure of the flight, he said.
"In this situation, it was not possible for the airlines to go for a night stop in Jeddah due
to FDTL because all passengers were stamped exit on their passports. Nor was a
possibility there for any hotel to arrange for the stay of more than 500 passengers on a
short notice," he argued.
Considering the exigency situation and as per the clause 9 and 16 of the ANO
91.0012/Issue-5, the PIA management approached the CAA director general with request
for a two-hour extension in the FDTL because in case of rolling/diversion delays, the PIA
management was authorised to extend the FDTL to 18 hours on its own.
"After getting verbal approval from the DG, fitness and willingness of the crew was
ensured," he claimed, adding that the flight returned safely within the approved extended
time and, as such, there was no violation of the rule."
In an Oct 21, 2013 communication (Ref: CPSI/M-1/13/61) to the CAA, Capt Sohail Bashir
Agha, writing on behalf of the PIA flight operations director, said: "It is sincere endeavour
of the airline to remain within FDTL, however on this particular occasion a verbal waiver
was sought in minimum time to facilitate the Hajis."
Talking to Dawn, Palpa chief Sohail Baloch said that air safety was of prime importance
and should never be compromised to save money.
He said that if a fresh crew was available in Jeddah, it should have been called to duty
instead of extending the duty hours of tired crew and thus putting the lives of all those
on board at risk.
Even if a fresh was not available there, the passengers should have been lodged in a
hotel till it was available, he added.
Mr Baloch said that Palpa would take up the issue with the PIA management.
http://dawn.com/news/1059884/air-safety-neglected-to-cope-with-rush
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Africa's Aviation Safety: LAM crash in Mozambique raises doubts
The crash two days ago of a LAM - Mozambique Airlines Embraer E190, which has cost
the lives of 27 passengers and 6 crew, has cast fresh doubts over Africa's aviation safety
record, which remains at the bottom of the scale in global comparison with the worst air
accident ratio of any continent. The aircraft, production number 581 and delivered by
Embraer to LAM in November 2012, was registered as C9-EMC by the Mozambique Civil
Aviation Authority. According to information sourced, the aircraft had during the past 12
months flown just over 2.900 hours with just under 1.900 flight cycles. The jet was
powered by two General Electric CF34-10E engines which are widely used on this regional
aircraft type.
The aircraft was performing flight number 470 from Maputo /Mozambique to Luanda /
Angola and the last reported contact took place at 11.30 hrs GMT when the crew reported
heavy rain in the area they were located at the time. There was according to information
received no further indication of anything wrong with the aircraft until contact with the
jet was eventually lost soon afterwards in the border area between Botswana and
Namibia.
Most accidents in Africa were in the past blamed on the use of aged, often Soviet era
turboprop or jet aircraft, attributed to poor pilot training and poor maintenance. Newer,
state of the art aircraft have only recently made a wider entry into the continents aircraft
registers, mainly driven by Africa's leading carrier which have renewed and expanded
their fleets in recent years and in the tow of which other airlines too started to phase out
older aircraft. IATA's IOSA audits, short for IATA Operational Safety Audit, have been
adopted by the leading airlines in Africa but many carriers are still in the process of being
audited, in other words still in the stage of adopting the standards and moving towards
full compliance. LAM, according to the IATA listings for African airlines, however does
hold IOSA certification.
The crash of a relatively new aircraft will therefore be investigated, though under the lead
of the Namibian aviation authorities - in charge because the crash happened in their
territory - with close assistance from Embraer, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, which
so far has an excellent safety record for their range of different turboprop and jet aircraft.
Embraer reportedly have offered their full cooperation and technical support to the air
accident investigation team which has been put into place by the Namibian Ministry of
Work, Transport and Communications.
While the weather was described as poor, it is only the now unfolding air crash
investigation which can shed light on the cause of the accident and the search is
underway for the aircraft's voice and data recorder, which can provide clues as to any
potential causes of the crash.
Condolences are extended to all the families and friends of the passengers and crews on
board of LAM flight 470.
http://www.eturbonews.com/40195/africas-aviation-safety-lam-crash-mozambique-
raises-doubts
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Engineer spent decades dedicated to improving aviation safety
Icko Tenenbaum
Aeronautical engineer
6-12-1919 - 27-10-2013
Icko Tenenbaum played a significant role in the early formation of the Australian safety
and airworthiness systems that have contributed to the outstanding safety record of
commercial and general aviation in this country and worldwide.
In 1938, when he was 18, Icko's parents moved their family from the eastern border of
Poland to Australia via the UK, just before the German invasion of Poland and the
outbreak of World War II. Icko enrolled at Melbourne University and was the first student
to gain a waiver from the policy at the time of not accepting non-English-speaking
students. He graduated in 1942 as the dux of the engineering course, after learning
English and working a number of manual jobs along the way. His grasp of mathematics
was of a very high order and of great use during his career.
His long and illustrious service to aviation began in 1942, when he was asked by the
Commonwealth government to forego participating in the war and to work instead with
the Department of Civil Aviation and later the Civil Aviation Authority. Early tasks
included identifying sites for new landing strips in the raw jungles of Papua and New
Guinea, a challenge that required a great understanding of aircraft take-off performance
and other critical parameters, including rapidly changing weather conditions. During this
period he also invented the first automatic runway selector system for identifying
precisely whether an aircraft would exceed crosswind limits and should change runways.
He went on to become chief of the aerodynamics and flight engineering section of the
Directorate of Air Navigation and Safety. He later helped in founding the new certification
branch.
Another important experience, and one that shaped his later career, was the 1945 loss of
a modified Avro aircraft due to metal fatigue of the welded steel tube wing spar. Aviation
safety became his driving force, and he represented Australia at early meetings of the
International Civil Aviation Organisation in Montreal.
Icko provided substantial statistical data relating to the performance of large transport-
category aeroplanes that was used in the formulation of take-off and landing standards -
worldwide civil aircraft standards still in use today. In Australia, he was instrumental in
developing our general aviation airworthiness standards, early standards for airports, and
the design and certification of the new Melbourne international airport at Tullamarine in
the early 1970s.
Icko joined the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) in 1949 as the Australian division was
forming, and remained a member for 63 years until his death. During 1977-79 he served
as chairman of the Melbourne branch, but was a councillor of the Australian division for a
much longer period, and also a trustee until 2002. He is remembered by many members
for his piercing questions at the conclusion of almost all lectures on any topic associated
with aviation, and his love of scholarly debate. In 1957, he was made a life member of
the Association of Architects, Engineers, Surveyors and Draughtsmen Australia, a union
of professionals he helped set up in 1944, and also volunteered in federal and state
offices.
Icko was ferocious as an advocate for engineers' rights, pay and conditions and social
justice as an idea that needed to be put into practice for all. He would represent his
association as an advocate in the various claims tribunals and was more than able to hold
his own against opposing counsel. On one memorable occasion, when confronted by a QC
who was belittling the engineering profession, Icko's response was: ''You would not be
competent to do my job but I, demonstrably, am able to do yours!'' Very typical of the
man.
He retired in 1983 having been the chief engineer, aircraft certification, at CAA since
1977. After his retirement he continued to be involved in the CAA and, later, CASA
business, and was strongly opposed to the change of direction towards ''affordable
safety''. In the late 1980s, he also contributed as an expert witness, on a voluntary basis,
to federal government inquiries into aviation safety.
Icko Tenenbaum set a high standard of both personal and professional integrity and
achievement, being technically very astute and demanding, as well as showing a great
depth of human understanding. He is survived by his three children, Anna, Linda and
David, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/obituaries/engineer-spent-decades-dedicated-to-
improving-aviation-safety-20131128-2yeci.html#ixzz2mJcpLadW
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Utah's state plane is not a luxury jet
Patrick Morley closes the cowling on an engine of a Beechcraft Super King Air
B200 used by the governor and other government agencies at the Utah Division
of Aeronautics at the Salt Lake International Airport on Monday, Nov. 25, 2013.
When you compare Utah's official airplanes that shuttle Gov. Gary Herbert around the
state to the humongous jetliner that flies the President of the United States around it
would be safe to say Utah's version is a compact car with a couple of extra features and
that the president's plane is a Rolls-Royce.
While Utah's two planes, a King Air B200 and C90, do have leather seats and a desk
that can fold out for the governor to use while in the air, that is about where the
similarities end.
"It is not like we have flight attendants," said Patrick Morely, director of Utah's Division of
Aeronautics. "This is just to get you there and then get you back."
Morely explained that the planes actually belong to the state and that they are not
exclusively used by the governor's office. In fact the governor's office only made up 10
percent of the planes' usage in the 2012 fiscal year for the state -- 39 flight hours to be
exact.
Morely said the planes are more often used by middle level management types in Utah's
various state agencies. He said rarely would you find an agency director hopping on the
plane as those who use the planes are usually heading out to hold meetings or to give a
presentation. He also noted in his 12 years with the division that he has never seen
anyone try to sneak any golf clubs onto the plane.
According to records kept by the division the University of Utah, in particular doctors
from the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the university's cardiology unit, use the plane
the most, followed by the state health department. Those two agencies alone account for
65 percent of the planes' flight hours in the last year. Utah's department of
transportation, UDOT, comes in third place for airplane use as it used the planes for 46
hours in the last year.
To no surprise St. George was the top destination for the planes. Rock Springs, Wyo.,
was the second most traveled to destination by the state planes. Morely said the health
department often does health clinics in Rock Springs which is why regular trips are made
that direction. The third most popular destination was Blanding.
Morely said the Provo airport from time to time is also a destination for the airplanes.
Morely said it rarely happens but once in a while Gov. Gary Herbert has the plane land at
the Provo airport so he can make it to his Orem home for the weekend quicker instead of
flying back to Salt Lake and then driving back to his Utah County home.
The state Legislature can also utilize the state's planes if they so choose. House Speaker
Becky Lockhart, R-Provo, said state's lawmakers rarely use the planes because the cost is
so high, the eight seat plane costs $900 per hour to use and the six seat plane costs
$775 per hour. She did note though that from time to time it could make sense for the
Legislature to book one of the planes to shuttle lawmakers around the state.
Lockhart said the planes were used last year by the Legislature while the Redistricting
Committee held meetings statewide to gain input on how Utah's political boundaries
should be redrawn.
Lockhart herself recently traveled on the plane with the governor for an economic
development trip to central Utah. Lockhart said the planes were nice and she is glad state
agencies can use them to be efficient in their work but said she'd rather get around in
something a little bigger when she travels.
"I don't like small planes personally," she said. "It is a nice enough plane, but for me
personally I prefer a larger plane."
http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/utah-s-state-plane-is-not-a-
luxury-jet/article_708dc7fe-7ee1-5cff-a539-738c703837f3.html
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Upgrading aircraft components grows Global Aviation Technologies' business
Global Aviation Technologies, a family-owned business in southwest Wichita, is growing
as it helps aircraft owners fight obsolescence on planes now out of production.
The company is an engineering, consulting and manufacturing operation. It provides
aircraft owners and operators with component and avionics upgrades for their airplanes
to replace older, outdated equipment.
"We resolve obsolescence and out-of-production issues," said Woody Cottner, a Wichita
native who founded the company and serves as its vice president of engineering.
Sometimes customers of older airplanes complain about a lack of support from
manufacturers, Cottner said.
Airplane manufacturers want to keep customers happy, but they have limited resources.
Updating older airplanes is not its core business, said Candace Cottner, the company's
director of operations, who is married to Woody Cottner. New airplane programs are.
When the company opened in 2002, it received its first referral from Learjet.
At the time, Wal-Mart wanted to upgrade the global positioning system on its fleet of
Learjet 35s.
"But Learjet didn't want to do it," Woody Cottner said. It wasn't a core competency. It
was busy with products still in production.
That business relationship between Wal-Mart and Global Aviation remains today, he said.
Global Aviation specializes in manufacturing wire harnesses. It also designs integration
packages for radars, navigation systems, cabin lighting and flight deck upgrades for out-
of production aircraft.
Its biggest customers include Piedmont Airlines, L3 Communications Vertex, Worthington
Aviation, Bombardier Learjet, Beechcraft and Northrop Grumman.
Global Aviation recently introduced an overheat protection system for the Learjet 45 and
an emergency battery for the Learjet 40 and 45.
It expects to complete certification for an LED caution warning panel for the DeHavilland
Dash 8 turboprop this month.
The company also assembles parts needed for a new flight management system for
Learjet 31A jets for inclusion in installation kits ready to ship.
The kits make it easier for technicians to know they have everything they need, Woody
Cottner said.
In 2011, the company was awarded a significant contract from Nextant Aerospace for
wire harnesses to upgrade Hawker 400XP aircraft. Nextant has since decided to
manufacture the harnesses in-house.
Despite the change, Global Aviation is growing. The company employs 15, up from four
in 2006.
"We've got such a good group of folks," Woody Cottner said. "It's a lot of fun."
The company is located in 14,750 square feet of space at 1704 S. Baehr - its fourth
location in its 11-year history.
It's currently in the process of buying five acres near 31st Street South and Hoover Road.
The plan is to break ground on a 40,000-square-foot building sometime next year.
"We'll never have to move again," said Candace Cottner.
The goal is to have enough work to hire additional employees, she said.
"Our vision is to help people get back to work," Candace Cottner said.
Candace joined her husband in the company in 2006 after spending 10 years in the
banking industry.
"It's been a really good transition," she said. "I learned a tremendous amount."
The two complement one another.
"The best part of it is working with my husband," she said.
Many people have remarked how they wouldn't be able to work with their spouses. But
they like it.
At first, they had to learn how to respond to each other's differences, Candace Cottner
said.
Woody Cottner is the creative person. She takes care of the financial side.
"I play the devil's advocate," Candace Cottner said. "I have to reel him back in
sometimes (and say) 'How much is this going to cost?' "
The couple's son, Jerome, is a production manager, and a cousin is a quality control
manager.
http://www.kansas.com/2013/11/29/3147290/upgrading-aircraft-
components.html#storylink=cpy
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Oakland woman and service dog kicked off Southwest Airlines flight
Schuyler McGraw is photographed with her dog Lux.
OAKLAND -- Schuyler McGraw's Staffordshire bull terrier, Lux, is an indispensable part of
her life.
McGraw, 34, of Oakland, said she sees a psychiatrist and takes medication for post-
traumatic stress disorder and a complex trauma obsessive compulsive disorder following
years of childhood abuse and a history of family alcoholism, and also has seizures.
Lux is trained to detect those seizures and has prevented at least 100 in the past three
years by circling McGraw, hovering near her legs and leaning on her master when the
dog anticipates a tremor coming.
But after McGraw and Lux boarded a Southwest Airlines flight out of Oakland on Tuesday,
McGraw, says, a disgruntled flight attendant forced the pair to deplane because the crew
member didn't like the dog's breed.
Southwest officials say they're working to make the situation right, but after being denied
the chance to visit an old friend for Thanksgiving, McGraw says the airline's offer of free
miles doesn't cut it.
"(Lux) is the light of my life and I love her," McGraw said Friday.
Leaving the house where she works as a writer is rare for McGraw as she works to
overcome her history of abuse. Socializing is a thing of the past, she says, and travel is
almost unheard of.
After saving up for a year, however, McGraw checked her bags at Oakland airport
Tuesday morning, passed through security, spoke to a gate agent, boarded the flight and
settled into the bulkhead seat with Lux at her feet. They were headed on a direct 90-
minute flight to Spokane and then to Idaho to visit an old friend.
"I clicked the seat belt and I was so happy. I felt 30 seconds of freedom," said McGraw.
Shortly after, she said, a flight attendant gave her an angry glare.
"I saw the look in her eye and it was so petty," she said, adding that she was wearing
sweatpants and a shirt with the logo of a medical marijuana dispensary on it and felt
judged by the way she was dressed. "The look in her eye (said to me), 'That is a stoner
with a pit bull.'"
The attendant spoke with two other airline employees and the group asked McGraw to
leave the plane because they felt Lux "(was) not a service dog," McGraw said.
McGraw said she provided airline crew with a handwritten note dated Nov. 23, on
stationery from her Berkeley psychiatrist that reads, in part, "(McGraw) requires a dog as
an accommodation for air travel. The dog has the ability to predict and prevent medical
problems such as seizures."
Still, the crew made McGraw and Lux leave the plane, surrounded her in the waiting area
and directed her to sit in a wheelchair while they sorted out the matter. Ultimately, they
said she could take a later Southwest fight. But McGraw said she had already had
another seizure and was too upset to take her trip.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law which guarantees the rights of
disabled people, states that for psychiatric service animals, "air carriers may request very
specific diagnostic documentation 48 hours in advance of a flight."
McGraw said she called the airline twice, once two days before her flight, to make certain
Lux would be welcome. She said customer service agents told her it wouldn't be a
problem as long as she had her doctor's note.
Dan Landson, a spokesman for Southwest Airlines, declined to speak about the incident
but released a statement saying that "our employees are responsible for the safety and
well-being of all passengers and their animals on our aircraft.
"We take customer service very seriously ... and we are working with the customer to
resolve the situation."
McGraw said she accepted a refund of her $651 ticket, but when an airline executive
called to offer her credit toward future travel, she refused.
"She tried to apologize, tried to offer me miles. I said, 'Save it, this is a discrimination
case, this is not about the money.' I don't want to fly on their miles. I don't want to fly
their airline again. She called me with a very cheap solution to a very expensive
situation."
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_24627353/oakland-woman-and-
service-dog-kicked-off-southwest
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AVIATION MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING EXCHANGE
Published weekly on Wednesday.
Curt Lewis